Stars with special guest Ruby Waters

This summer, witness a night of indie magic as dream-pop legends Stars light up the Drill Hall stage, with special guest, Ruby Waters, bringing her raw, magnetic energy.
Stars
By all accounts, the process of creating Set Yourself On Fire, Stars’ third full-length album – for Arts & Crafts, home to their dear friends and sometime collaborators and bandmates Broken Social Scene – played like scenes from The Shining. During one of the coldest winters on record, the soft revolutionaries set up shop in a cabin offered to them by an odd man they’d met in a local pub, a chap named Alan Nicholls. Turned out he used to play in a classic Montreal garage band in the sixties and currently writes tunes for Robert Altman. Over the mixing board in his country home studio, there was a photo of Alan giving John Lennon a hug. While the snow fell outside, Stars nestled in their cocoon, drank rivers of booze, smoked things they shouldn’t, had bloody arguments, slid down icy hills on the bellies of their snowsuits, kissed and made up and nearly went insane. They steeped themselves in Sam Cooke and the Super Furry Animals, hash cakes and champagne, DuMaurier Lights and library books, the Apostle of Hustle and skating. Serious emo shit went down. When they were done letting themselves completely fall apart, Stars channeled all that cabin feverish intensity into writing brilliant songs. James Shaw, their old pal from Metric, showed up to help record some tracks. They think he survived unscathed.

Photo Credit: Jess Tran

Special Guest: Ruby Waters
Her mellow manner is entirely disarming and comforting in the best way possible. Ruby Waters is a powerful artistic force, carving out a path that is wholly her own. Her music is an extension of her truest self—good times, close friends, and honest storytelling. Add in some nostalgic riffs and cutting lyrics, and the picture becomes clear. As an independent artist, Ruby has amassed over 80 million streams and earned JUNO Award nominations for Alternative Album of the Year in both 2022 and 2024. Touring is where she truly thrives, regularly selling out headline shows across the US, Canada, Europe, and the UK. With the release of her full-length debut, “”What’s The Point””, and the accompanying world tour, Ruby Waters has firmly cemented her place as a captivating voice in today’s music scene.